Sylvie Singh-Lamy fills out her first ballot at the Sept. 10 primary at the Ward 3 polls at Keene Middle School. A lawsuit filed by N.H. Youth Movement seeks to block the state from enforcing House Bill 1569, which is slated to go into effect after the Nov. 5 primary. (Photo by
Hannah Schroeder, Keene Sentinel)
A nonprofit organization representing young people has filed a federal lawsuit against New Hampshire’s new voter identification law, alleging it is unconstitutional, unjustified, burdensome and would prevent certain qualified voters from casting ballots.
N.H. Youth Movement filed the suit in U.S. District Court in Concord on Tuesday, naming N.H. Secretary of State David Scanlan as the defendant. It seeks to block the state from enforcing House Bill 1569, which is slated to go into effect a week after the Nov. 5 general election.
Scanlan’s office didn’t immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.
The new law would require that people registering to vote produce proof of citizenship such as a passport or birth certificate. Currently, those without such proof can sign a document swearing under criminal penalty that they are citizens.
Likewise, registered voters who come to the polls to vote without evidence of their identity can also sign an affidavit attesting to their identification.
HB 1569 would remove all such affidavit procedures, giving New Hampshire one of the most restrictive voter ID laws in the nation.
The new requirements would be hard on people without ready access to citizenship documents, states the lawsuit, which also notes it can take months and cost more than $110 to obtain a passport.
“The proof-of-citizenship requirement inflicts severe burdens, including total disenfranchisement, on otherwise qualified New Hampshire citizens,” the lawsuit states.
“It also imposes disproportionately severe burdens on young, elderly, and low-income voters, as well as students, the homeless, and other particularly transient populations.”
It says these groups are “less likely to have the time and resources to invest in obtaining the documents necessary to register to vote under HB 1569.”
Others may have lost their proof of citizenship in a house fire or other emergency, or they may not be aware of the new law, come to the polls without these documents and not have the time or ability to go get them, the lawsuit says.
The litigation also notes there is a lack of evidence that fraudulent voting is a problem that would justify the new requirement.
Scanlan and Gov. Chris Sununu, who signed HB 1569 into law last week, have said repeatedly that New Hampshire elections are safe and secure. Scanlan has noted that voter fraud cases are infrequent.
The lawsuit asserts that the law violates constitutional provisions for free speech and equal protection under the first and 14th amendments.
Legal precedents cited in the lawsuit include Fish v. Schwab in which plaintiffs challenged a Kansas law requiring documentary proof of citizenship for voter registration. In 2020, the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals found the Kansas law was unconstitutional.
Rep. Bob Lynn, R-Windham, was the prime sponsor of HB 1569.He said in a recent interview that even though voter fraud cases aren’t frequent, it’s hard to know how often the crime is committed.
“Is it a significant number beyond one or two? We don’t really know the answer to that,” he said.
Lynn also said that the law doesn’t block anybody from voting, but merely mandates that they prove their qualifications to do so.
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